Purple Gallinules, Anahuac NWR 2014

At Anahuac NWR in south Texas it was a good year for Purple Gallinules. Hurricane Ike in 2008 resulted in a complete kill off of all trees, vegetation and wildlife, even down to sub-surface insects. A ten year recovery was forecast. It only took six years for the Park to make major strides despite the massive and extended salt water drowning in 2008 and subsequent droughts. With aid from an unusually rainy winter and spring the Park has recovered enough to put on a nice show this summer with birds and foliage. My generation, however, will never see the return of anything like the many mature hardwood trees that died. They lined the fencerows around the park and provided bird habitat that will take decades to replace. This gallery consists of the better photos from four trips in August 2014, each trip having from 3 to 6 hours of useful shooting time. Most photos were taken between 8AM and noon.